Editorial: Biocatalysis and biotransformation guided by protein engineering

Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, National Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Enzymes, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, China, Beijing Chengzhi Life Science Co., Ltd., Beijing, China, Institute of Food Processing, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China


Editorial on the Research Topic Biocatalysis and biotransformation guided by protein engineering
Enzyme-based processing technologies have attracted much attention for their wideranging applications in the sustainable synthesis of industrially useful products in various fields, including pharmaceuticals, food, feed, chemicals, detergents, and biofuels. Enzymes have significant industrial potential as biocatalysts which display high levels of activity and stereocontrol, function under mild conditions, and can, in principle, be readily modified for industrial uses via genetic engineering. Additionally, enzymes have demonstrated their enormous potential for use in green technology as promising alternatives to traditional inorganic catalysts due to the benefits of being sustainable, clean, highly specific, and energyefficient. Unfortunately, high-performance enzymes are quite scarce in nature, which has severely limited their use in practical synthetic applications. As a result, it has been emphasized that researching and developing highly active and robust biocatalysts that are specifically designed for the biosynthesis of target products is an essential advance. It is extremely valuable to both scientific and industrial interests. Protein engineering based on rational design and directed evolution has been developed as a potent tool to tailor natural enzymes for industrial applications. The substitution of amino acid residues in the protein sequence would induce the redistribution of the conformational ensemble, which can potentially fine-tune the catalytic performance of the enzyme. Meanwhile, enzyme immobilization, which could improve the catalytic properties, recovery, and reusability of enzymes, was also designed for the manufacture of diverse bio-products in large-scale industrial applications to reduce process costs.
This Research Topic has compiled a broad range of original research and reviews to provide readers with an overview of the most recent approaches to biocatalysis and biotransformation guided by protein engineering. Overall, 11 articles on this Research Topic have been published, including 1 review article and 10 research articles. The published articles are briefly highlighted in the following.
Du et al. offered an extensive summary of the principle and process of protein purification, the recent advances and applications of protein purification technologies in We hope this Research Topic will benefit both the scientific and industrial communities to track the state-of-the-art in this enzymatic field, no matter whether the readers are at a beginner or professional level. Finally, we would also like to express our appreciation to all of the contributing authors for sharing their excellent scientific works, the reviewers for their insightful comments, as well as the editorial staffs of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology for their unwavering support to ensure the success of this Research Topic.

Author contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of interest
Author MJ was employed by Beijing Chengzhi Life Science Co., Ltd.
The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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